Pet hate #17: one man "bands"

Philly_Q

Michael Schenker seems to have two or three bands going at the same time.  They're very much his own projects - his name on the cover, they even have cover paintings featuring him in his silly woolly hat.  But he always has some key collaborators to help with the writing and production.

thecolourbox

ICBM said:

Off the top of my head I can think of...

ABC (Martin Fry)
Camel (Andy Latimer)
Dinosaur Jr. (J Mascis)
ELO (Jeff Lynne)
Feeder (Grant Nicholas)
Grant Lee Buffalo (Grant-Lee Phillips)
Panic! At The Disco (Brendon Urie)
Sisters Of Mercy (Andrew Eldritch)
The The (Matt Johnson)
The Waterboys (Mike Scott)
White Stripes (Jack White)

... all of who have a sole songwriter/driving force behind the band. What's not to like? Even if all of them aren't necessarily your thing.

As the resident White Stripes fan boy, I have to refute the idea that they were just a one person band - Meg was a massive influence on the songs by her presence and in some cases because of her drumming patterns. 

Even now, Jack's solo stuff is more collaborative that it would seem on paper, the backing bands he chooses definitely contribute to the overall effect of the music

Mattharrier

slacker said:

ICBM said:&

chromatuna said:

How about a band named after one person that is really a band

Franz Ferdinand - you didn't say they had to be in the band .

Gomez isn't in the band Gomez.
Duran Duran was a movie character also not in the band
There's isn't a James and he's not in the band
Leon is the kings of leon's grandad also not in the band
Bon Jovie is in a band but I wish he wasnt

Larkin Poe was the Lovell sisters' several-greats grandad.

Mookie Blaylock isn't in Pearl Jam. Wait, I think I got confused there...

brojangles

It blows my mind that three pages in, no one's mentioned the Robert Smith band aka The Cure.

EricTheWeary

Nitefly said:

I see no-one has yet mentioned the archetypal Simply Red - Mick Hucknall and assorted backing musicians.

Although I don’t think they started like that. I was also thinking about Alice Cooper which started as a band but became a bloke with assorted side musicians. 

The Selecter became Pauline Black and various hired people even though she didn’t put the band together, didn’t write their hits or come up with the look. Some original/ early members have come back in at times (second vocalist Gaps has been back for a few years, original drummer Charlie was in the last tour) but it’s been very much her thing for years. 

I guess it’s hard to resist seeing the band as the singer and everyone else as replaceable. 

Dave_Vader

Mattharrier said:

slacker said:

ICBM said:&

chromatuna said:

How about a band named after one person that is really a band

Franz Ferdinand - you didn't say they had to be in the band .

Gomez isn't in the band Gomez.
Duran Duran was a movie character also not in the band
There's isn't a James and he's not in the band
Leon is the kings of leon's grandad also not in the band
Bon Jovie is in a band but I wish he wasnt

Larkin Poe was the Lovell sisters' several-greats grandad.

Mookie Blaylock isn't in Pearl Jam. Wait, I think I got confused there...

Originally Alice Cooper was the band, not Vincent Furnier

Dominic

Those ones where a bloke has a Bass drum on his back ,symbals between his knees, guitar and the world's most painful instrument ......a mouth organ on a metal frame ..........oh,and a kazoo
I really hate the sound of a mouth organ

crunchman

Dire Straits?

I know they had some superb musicians like Pick Withers, but the whole thing is driven/led by Mark Knopfler - definitely after his brother left.

axisus

What a strange thing to hate? Surely it's all about the music?

My fave band in the World is effectively a one man band - Pendragon. Nick Barrett writes all the songs, sings, plays awesome guitar solos. 

Tannin

axisus said:

What a strange thing to hate? Surely it's all about the music?

It's about honesty. If you are not a band, that;s fine. Bill yourself as a solo act. Just don't pretend to be something you are not. 

And the very, very best bands all have more than one creative force. 

distressed

ICBM said:

Dinosaur Jr. (J Mascis)

Lou Barlow has his share of few songs per album usually, and they have also a pretty stable lineup for decades.

Grunfeld

Funkfingers said:

The Durutti Column = Vini Reilly

He's a favourite of mine.  Such a shame he can't play any more. 

But I have no dislike or problem with the idea that a band identity can be different from an individual's identity even when both correspond physically.

There are other ways to think about identity so I suppose I do that.

Reverend

distressed said:

ICBM said:

Dinosaur Jr. (J Mascis)

Lou Barlow has his share of few songs per album usually, and they have also a pretty stable lineup for decades.

given the nature of DInosaur Jr, Sebadoh etc, its funny that Mascis and Barlow are considered the godfathers of grindcore

axisus

Tannin said:

axisus said:

What a strange thing to hate? Surely it's all about the music?

It's about honesty. If you are not a band, that;s fine. Bill yourself as a solo act. Just don't pretend to be something you are not. 

And the very, very best bands all have more than one creative force. 

Honesty? That sounds daft to me, you just have a weird chip on your shoulder about this.

and I disagree about the 'very very best bands' all having more than one creative force. It's no bad thing but it's certainly not a prerequisite.

equalsql

Kilgore said:

Does the "one man band" have to be the vocalist?

 Brad Delp was Boston's vocalist but it`s not difficult to argue that Boston was just the Tom Scholz band. 

I was learning to play bass when that first Boston album was released and was blown away back then by Fran Sheehan's bass playing. It was so melodic with some beautifully executed triplets on many tracks that gave a real skip to the beat. I was quite  shocked to find out later that it was actually Tom Sholz who played those great lines. Damn, a skilled  guitarist, keyboard player and bassist to boot.

Philly_Q

Only because I heard them mentioned this morning... Take That is really Gary Barlow, one man band.